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### Viewing cable 09QUITO883, Refugees Programs in Ecuador Risk Benefitting the FARC

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
09QUITO883 | 2009-10-15 20:08 | 2011-04-15 21:09 | SECRET//NOFORN | Embassy Quito
Appears in these articles: http://www.eluniverso.com/2011/04/15/1/1355/cable-229886.html

`

    VZCZCXYZ0031
    OO RUEHWEB

    DE RUEHQT #0883/01 2882044
    ZNY SSSSS ZZH
    O R 152044Z OCT 09
    FM AMEMBASSY QUITO
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0192
    INFO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0008
    RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
    RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
    RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 0042
    RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0062
    RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0008
    RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ NOV LIMA 0068
    RUEHSJ/AMEMBASSY SAN JOSE 0001
    RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA 0001

` `

    S E C R E T QUITO 000883

    SIPDIS
    NOFORN

    E.O. 12958: DECL: 2029/10/14
    TAGS: PREF PHUM KCRM KWMN PGOV SMIG SNAR SOCI EC CO
    SUBJECT: Refugees Programs in Ecuador Risk Benefitting the FARC

    REF: TD-314/054074-09; TD-314/062859-09; QUI...

    id: 229886
    date: 10/15/2009 20:44
    refid: 09QUITO883
    origin: Embassy Quito
    classification: SECRET//NOFORN
    destination: 08STATE20628|09QUITO609
    header:
    VZCZCXYZ0031
    OO RUEHWEB

    DE RUEHQT #0883/01 2882044
    ZNY SSSSS ZZH
    O R 152044Z OCT 09
    FM AMEMBASSY QUITO
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0192
    INFO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0008
    RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
    RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
    RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 0042
    RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0062
    RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0008
    RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ NOV LIMA 0068
    RUEHSJ/AMEMBASSY SAN JOSE 0001
    RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA 0001

    ----------------- header ends ----------------

    S E C R E T QUITO 000883

    SIPDIS
    NOFORN

    E.O. 12958: DECL: 2029/10/14
    TAGS: PREF PHUM KCRM KWMN PGOV SMIG SNAR SOCI EC CO
    SUBJECT: Refugees Programs in Ecuador Risk Benefitting the FARC

    REF: TD-314/054074-09; TD-314/062859-09; QUITO 609; 08 STATE 020628

    CLASSIFIED BY: Heather Hodges, Ambassador; REASON: 1.4(B), (C), (D)

    ¶1. (S/NF) This is an action request.  See para. 9.

    ¶2. (S/NF) Summary and Comment:  Embassy Quito and the Regional
    Refugee Coordinator (RefCoord) request guidance on how to respond
    to information that suspected FARC members have manipulated
    Ecuador's Enhanced Registration Program implemented by the MFA
    Directorate General for Refugees and the UN High Commissioner for
    Refugees (UNHCR) to gain refugee status in the country.  We also
    request Department guidance on how to address potential cases of
    unintended diversion of humanitarian assistance to
    terrorist/criminal groups to comply with risk-based assessment
    requirements.  GOE and UNHCR officials assert that security
    measures are in place to avoid registration of FARC members and
    that protection of, and data collection on, refugees is important.
    However, it is unclear whether the GOE is enforcing its own rules
    and what action might be taken against known FARC members.  Post
    and RefCoord request that Washington provide releasable information
    that could be shared with GOE and UNHCR officials.  End Summary and
    Comment.

    Manipulation of Refugee Registration and Assistance

    --------------------------------------------- ------

    ¶3. (S/NF) According to GRPO reports (Refs A and B), a Revolutionary
    Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) collaborator working under the
    Enhanced Registration Program (ERP) has facilitated recommendations
    for refugee status for an unspecified number of suspected FARC
    members.  The same FARC collaborator has also reportedly diverted
    humanitarian assistance from UNHCR and other relief agencies to the
    FARC in Sucumbios Province, and traveled to Colombia with an
    International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) medical training
    mission during which time she acted on her own to provide medical
    assistance to the FARC.  The reports also assert that the Ecuadoran
    military had passed the names of three known or suspected FARC
    members seeking asylum under the ERP to the MFA and UNHCR, but that
    both agencies did not take action and the GOE issued refugee status
    to these individuals.

    ¶4. (S/NF) Post and RefCoord have not confirmed if these individuals
    were provided refugee status or asylum seeker status.  Under the
    Enhanced Registration process (see description in para. 10), any
    asylum seeker (those who seek, but have not yet been granted,
    refugee status) who is suspected of having links to illegal armed
    groups is supposed to be given an asylum seeker card -- not a
    refugee card -- and referred to the regular asylum process in Quito
    for further scrutiny.  UNHCR has reported that approximately 4
    percent of asylum seekers have been referred to the regular asylum
    process for an exclusion analysis, including an unspecified number
    of cases with suspected links to an illegal armed group.  Other
    exclusions include those determined not to be staying in the
    country or economic migrants.  These referred cases are still
    pending and may take months to resolve, assuming the GOE truly has
    will and intent to confront this issue.

    GOE Responds to Security Concerns
    ---------------------------------

    ¶5. (C) MFA Under Secretary of Multilateral Affairs Carlos Jativa
    told RefCoord on August 31 that security checks are a part of the
    ERP process and that he does not believe members of illegal armed
    groups would willingly expose themselves to government entities,
    noting that a refugee visa alone is not valid permission to enter
    or exit the country.  He added that an inter-agency taskforce
    (including GOE security forces) reviewed this concern when the ERP

    was designed and signed off on the process.

    ¶6. (C) Under Secretary of National Defense Jorge Pena told Embassy
    officers on September 3 that collecting data on Colombian refugees
    through the registration process, including potential FARC members
    or sympathizers, was better than not knowing who was present in
    Ecuador.  However, he was unable to articulate how the GOE would
    share this data with its own security forces.

    UNHCR's Response to Security Concerns

    -------------------------------------

    ¶7. (C) UNHCR Deputy Representative Luis Varese explained to
    RefCoord and the PRM Program Officer in May that the ERP includes
    an exclusion clause for suspected members of illegal armed groups
    and police are involved in the process.  A representative from the
    Ministry of Government and Police serves as a voting member on the
    GOE Eligibility Committee.  Additionally, the last step in the
    process is the Migration Police registering those granted refugee
    status.

    ¶8. (C) Post and RefCoord plan to engage with the GOE to urge
    stronger coordination between the MFA Directorate General for
    Refugees and security forces.  Releasable information (as requested
    in para. 9) would allow us to share our specific concerns with the
    GOE, UNHCR, and ICRC, and to request investigations of the alleged
    incidents and appropriate action if confirmed.

    Action Request

    --------------

    ¶9. (S/NF) Action Request:  Post and RefCoord request Department
    guidance on how to respond to information (Refs A and B) that
    suspected members of the FARC have manipulated Ecuador's Enhanced
    Registration Program to gain refugee status, and on providing
    humanitarian assistance in USG-supported programs in which there
    exist the potential of unintended diversion of assistance to
    benefit terrorist/ criminal groups.  While the steps planned by
    Post and RefCoord are aimed to address specific instances of
    possible diversion of humanitarian assistance and to strengthen
    processes to prevent such actions, Post recognizes there may exist
    continuing and systemic risk of such diversion and would like the
    Department's guidance on whether the overall benefit of providing
    USG support to these humanitarian assistance programs outweighs the
    risk of inadvertently providing benefit to terrorists or their
    supporters.  In addition, Post and RefCoord request that Washington
    provide releasable information based on Refs A and B (and any
    sources, if appropriate) that we can share with the GOE and UNHCR.

    Background on Enhanced Registration Program

    -------------------------------------------

    ¶10. (SBU) The MFA Directorate General for Refugees and UNHCR
    launched the ERP in March 2009 to provide a more efficient refugee
    registration process for the estimated 135,000 Colombians in need
    of international protection in Ecuador.  As of August, some 13,000
    Colombians have received refugee status under the program.  The
    RefCoord and PRM Program Officer raised the possibility of the FARC

    manipulating the ERP to gain refugee status in May and August with
    the MFA and UNHCR.  In both instances, the MFA and UNHCR responded
    that the Enhanced Registration and regular asylum processes include
    an exclusion clause for members of illegal armed groups and that
    the interviewers and the GOE Eligibility Commission scrupulously
    implement the standard operating procedure manual.

    ¶11. (SBU) According to UNHCR statistics, 17,607 new asylum seekers
    applied in 2008, of which 85 percent were Colombian.  Refugee
    status was provided for 4,331 Colombians, was rejected for 3,824,
    and otherwise closed for 220.  From March 23 to October 3, 2009,
    under the Enhanced Registration Program, the GOE recognized 16,320
    Colombian refugees and referred 377 cases to the regular asylum
    process for further analysis.  Nearly 90 percent of the recognized
    refugees were women and minors below the age of 18.  UNHCR Deputy
    Representative Varese told RefCoord that the majority of the cases
    referred to Quito were due to suspected links to an illegal armed
    group.  These cases were still pending and may take months to
    resolve.  Since 2004, approximately 470 cases have been excluded
    for links to illegal armed groups out of some 55,000 asylum claims.

    ¶12. (U) Under the ERP, an asylum seeker suspected of having links
    to any illegal armed group is referred to the regular asylum
    process in Quito, where a Refugee Officer in the MFA investigates
    and passes the case to the GOE Eligibility Committee.  The GOE
    Eligibility Committee is made up of two representatives from the
    MFA with one vote each, one representative from the Ministry of
    Government and Police with one vote, one representative from UNHCR
    with a voice but no vote, and other observers from civil society
    without voice or vote.  If the GOE Eligibility Committee determines
    the asylum seeker does not qualify for refugee status under the
    exclusion clause, the asylum seeker has 30 days to appeal the
    decision directly to the MFA.  If the appeal is not successful, the
    asylum seeker will be given 60 days to regularize his/her status
    under the immigration law or to leave the country voluntarily.  Any
    rejected asylum seeker found in the country with an irregular
    migration status may be detained and referred to deportation
    proceedings conducted by Provincial Police and Migration Police.

    ¶13. (U) Refugee status is valid for a renewable one-year period.
    (A proposed new draft of the presidential refugee decree recommends
    increasing the validity to three years.)  A refugee must petition
    for renewal in person at an MFA office before the status expires.
    At the time of renewal, the MFA Directorate General for Refugees
    (DGR) updates the refugee's bio-data and issues a new card.  If a
    refugee does not renew the status before the expiration date, DGR
    will consider the cause of delay.  Refugees cannot leave the
    country without DGR's authorization, which migration officials
    verify upon exit and re-entry whether overland or by air.  To
    obtain authorization, refugees must present requests justifying
    their reasons for travel and the time they will spend outside the
    country.  If DGR approves, the MFA's Travel Documents Directorate
    issues international travel documents valid for one year.

    ¶14. (U) This cable was drafted in collaboration with RefCoord and
    cleared by Embassy Bogota.
    HODGES

    =======================CABLE ENDS============================

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